Lord, Aeck & Sargent adopts The 2030 Challenge
Lord, Aeck & Sargent Architecture, a pioneer in sustainable,
energy-efficient architectural design, was one of the first architecture firms in the country to adopt The
2030 Challenge.dBusinessNews

The Fulton County Commission voted to adopt The 2030 Challenge
Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin joined mayors from around the country to adopt The 2030 Challenge last summer. The Fulton County Commission recently voted to adopt a resolution that would accept The 2030 Challenge. Daily Report

Photovoltaic research team shares award with NASA's James Hansen
Sarah Kurtz and Jerry Olson, two solar-power innovators at the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Golden, Colorado, will share this year's $1 million Dan David Future Prize with NASA climate scientist James Hansen. The prizes are granted to individuals or institutions that have made an outstanding contribution to humanity.National Renewable Energy Laboratory

All new homes in
England will have to be carbon neutral by 2016
The UK's 21 million homes are responsible for 27% of England’s CO2 emissions. The government hopes that requiring all new homes to the carbon neutral will help the country meet its target of cutting CO2 emissions by at least 60% by 2050.BBC News

Step it Up Congress:
Cut carbon 80% by 2050
This April 14th, tens of thousands of Americans will gather all across the country at meaningful, iconic places to call for action on climate change. Participants will hike, bike, climb, walk, swim, kayak, canoe, or simply sit or stand with banners that call for action. Step It Up 2007

Pelosi Supports Important U.S. Solar and Fuel Cell Bill
In a meeting last Wednesday with solar and environmental lobbyists, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi expressed her support for H.R. 550, an important bill that would extend the residential and commercial investment tax credit (ITC) for solar and fuel cell equipment for eight years. The bill also revises other key tax credits for those industries.Renewable Energy Access

"Climate Change 2007" The IPCC 4th Assessment Report is coming out soon
The IPCC's Workking Group II "Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability," a comprehensive and rigorous picture of the global present state of knowledge of climate, change is to be released on April 6th in Brussels. Download the summary for policymakers.
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

Design for Disassembly Competition
EPA is partnering with AIA, the Buiding Materials Reuse Association and West Coast Green on the Lifecycle Building Challenge. This national competition, sponsored by GreenBuildingBlocks.com, invites engineers, designers, planners, contractors, builders, government leaders, educators and students to submit their ideas for buildings and building materials that facilitate and anticipate future
changes to and eventual adaptation, disassembly, or dismantling for recovery. lifecyclebuilding.org

Go to the News/Resources section of architecture2030.org to get the latest news updates on issues regarding climate change and the building sector.

Over the past several months Architecture 2030 has been busier than ever. We set some very challenging goals for ourselves, and with enormous support and commitment, we achieved much of what we set out to accomplish. Our team, accompanied by four very influential speakers, joined forces with some of the most powerful names in the industry to produce a live web-cast that informed more students, professionals and community leaders than we could reach in a lifetime by traveling and lecturing.

On February 20, 2007, Architecture 2030 hosted the 2010 Imperative Global Emergency Teach-in, which was sponsored by the Home Depot Foundation, American Institute of Architects, US Green Building Council, New York Academy of Sciences and many other generous supporters. The event, web-cast live from New York City for three and a half hours, reached over a quarter of a million participants from 47 countries worldwide. Over 1200 AIA members participated for continuing education credit and hundreds of universities across the globe hosted exciting events with remarkable turnouts.

Now the word is out: Global warming is happening and the educational and design communities have an obligation to join others worldwide in the battle against catastrophic climate change. The 2010 Imperative offers students, faculty and administrators a historic opportunity to lead our nation in this time of crisis, and The 2030 Challenge offers professionals and policymakers a simple, achievable strategy to reduce fossil fuel consumption and the carbon emissions that are currently a by-product of the built environment.

If you do your homework, have your facts right and the merits on your side, and then build a constituency for your ideals through the Internet, you, too, can be at the table of the biggest deal in history.
THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN, NY Times, March 16, 2007 OP-Ed: Marching with a Mouse

Sustainability was a driving force in the design of the Sonoma State University Student Recreation Center. Approximately 70% of the building is naturally ventilated and cooled; the building is "night flushed" of all hot air and utilizes interior thermal mass to moderate daytime interior temperatures. Vents located in the lobby skylight and under built-in exterior window seats assure adequate air movement and natural ventilation throughout the lobby area. An indirect evaporative cooling system is used in the offices, multipurpose and fitness room and a de-stratification/ventilation system is employed in the small gym. Along with proper orientation and a well insulated exterior skin, the building is 43% more efficient than that California code (Title 24), with an energy savings of approximately 339,000 kWh/Yr. As Title 24 is one of the most stringent building codes in the US, the building is well below the 50% operating energy consumption reduction target called for by The 2030 Challenge. The project was designed to meet a LEED Silver certification rating from the USGBC.

University of California, Berkeley

The Early Childhood Education Center (ECEC) at UC Berkeley is an example of using an
integrated design process to achieve sustainable building design goals. Comprehensive
collaboration between the user group, the design team, and the project delivery team produced a highly-sustainable building that satisfies programmatic requirements while adhering to construction schedule and budget.
The building is largely illuminated with natural daylight introduced via skylights and south
clerestory windows to create a comfortable, healthful environment while reducing electricity use. In addition to providing the building's young occupants with a healthy indoor environment, the ECEC also promotes stewardship of the natural environment. Examples of sustainable resource use at the ECEC include:

University of California, Berkeley
The Early Childhood Education Center
Architect: JSW/D Architects

The building is expected to receive a
LEED-NC Silver rating from the USGBC, and was
honored with a Best Practice Award for
Integrated Design Process at the 2006
UC/CSU/IOU Sustainability
Conference.

Los Angeles Community College

Capping a year of local leadership in promoting sustainable building practices, the Los Angeles Community College District (LACCD) was honored in December 2006 with the United States Green Building Council - Los Angeles Chapter's (USGBC-LA) Sustainable Future Award.

The LACCD is currently undertaking the largest public sector green building program in the United States, funded by the $2.2 billion Proposition A/AA Bond Program. In April 2006, the LACCD opened its first green building, the Maintenance and Operations (M&O) building at Los Angeles Valley College. The M&O building earned Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED™) certification from the US Green Building Council because it incorporates a number of features designed to reduce energy and water consumption.

In October 2006, the LACCD further illustrated its commitment to sustainability with the announcement of its plan to be the first community college district in the nation to “go off the grid” by generating its own power for all energy needs. The LACCD is currently planning to install photovoltaic (solar energy) panels that will produce enough electricity to meet daytime power needs at each of its nine colleges.

The Los Angeles Community College District is one of the largest community college districts in the country, educating more than 110,000 students at its nine colleges each year. The District’s strong leadership in its adoption of sustainability practices has been recognized by numerous organizations, including the California Climate Registry, Global Green USA, and Flex Your Power.

The University of California, Santa Barbara boasts the only LEED Platinum laboratory building in the US. In constructing Bren Hall, home to the interdisciplinary graduate school of environmental science and management, 100% of the demolition waste and 92% of the construction waste were recycled. The building, which gets 10% of its power from a photovoltaic system, was designed by Zimmer Gunsul Frasca, an environmentally conscious firm that also designed the adjacent Marine Science Building. The Marine Science Building is UCSB’s second LEED for New Construction certified building and is 25% more energy efficient than California building codes require. Both projects have purchased wind energy to power the buildings for two years. The university has also signed an agreement with the USGBC to use LEED for Existing Buildings ratings to LEED certify 25 of its existing buildings over the next five years. One building, Girvetz Hall, has already been certified.

California Polytechnic University at San Luis Obispo

In June 2005, California Polytechnic’s Sustainable Environments minor received the AIA COTE’s top award for “ecological literacy.” Cal Poly also offers Sustainable Architecture as a graduate study program within their Masters of Science in Architecture degree. The university’s dedication to sustainable efforts is further exemplified in the numerous courses offered in its sustainability catalog.